"Israel's sovereigntyin sacred Jerusalem in everlasting; our wish to see peace does not contradict the absolute loyalty the Israeli people have to Jerusalem and its unity," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert saidMonday.
Speaking at a ceremony held at Ammunition Hill to mark Jerusalem Day, Olmert said the capital was "a city of many nations", adding that Israel "respects all worshippers, preserves the holy sites and is committed to freedom of religion.
Dignitaries at Jerusalem Day ceremony (Photo: Dudi Vaaknin)
"Jerusalem is the heart of the Jewish nation; for thousands of years (religious) Jews have prayed while facing the city and the Temple Mount three times a day. Forty-one years ago, Jerusalem was liberated and united in a war that was forces on us," the prime minister said. "Thousands of years after David and Solomon blessed the city in the temple, Jerusalem returned to Jewish hands. This is irreversible."
The PM continued to say that "Jerusalem was redeemed with the blood of warriors, but its glory does not derive from violence but from peace. Today let us remember the fallen soldiers who gave Israel its greatest victory."
Turning his attention to the incessant rocket attacks on southern Israel, Olmert said "residents of Sderot, my hear goes out to you; you too will soon experience the long-awaited calm. I prefer the path of negotiations (to achieve quiet in the south), but if there is no response (on the part of the Palestinian terror groups in Gaza), then we will go a different way."
President Shimon Peres saidduring his speech that "the warriors of Jerusalem, the soldiers who were killed in the Six Day War, they are the ones who made it possible to establish an Israel that is great, although it is not vast in size.
"Israel, which has known war, continues to strive for peace," he said.
Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik also attended the ceremony.